Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 October 2025
254. Deputy Emer Currie asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if any additional capital funding will be needed for the national broadband plan beyond the additional €80 million of funding issued in February 2025; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53476/25]
View answerThe approved budget for delivering the National Broadband Plan (NPB) is €2.7bn over its 25 year term, with €400m allocated to the plan as part of the 2025 budget, and no additional capital funding is envisaged to complete the plan.
A shortfall may emerge this year as a result of the accelerated deployment of gigabit broadband services across the State. I should emphasize that any additional funding required for 2025 would not represent an increase to the already approved capital budget for the NBP project, but rather a reprofiling of the project's budget from later years to this year, so as to support the accelerated delivery of the plan. My Department is engaging with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in relation to addressing any shortfall this year.
